In a Michaelis-Menten type reversible enzyme reaction (one substrate, one product) the rapid equilibrium kinetics in one direction excludes rapid equilibrium in the reverse direction. If rapid equilibrium functions in any direction, in the reverse reaction van Slyke type 'kinetic constant' appears in the rate equation independently of whether steady state is reached in finite time or the final equilibrium is attained at t = m. If the reaction proceeds in one direction with rapid equilibrium and in the reverse direction with steady-state kinetics, the thermodynamic equilibrium of the reaction determines that a higher equilibrium concentration of product (or substrate) can be reached only with steady-state kinetics.Let us consider a reversible Michaelis-Menten type mechanism [1,2], where a single product is formed through a single enzyme-substrate complex from a single substrate (scheme 1).
E+S -where E stands for enzyme, S for substrate and P for product. The kl and k-2 are second order, k-t and kz first order rate constants. In this case, considering the initial velocity conditions in both directions:where KM,S and KM,p are the Michaelis constants of the substrate and product, respectively. If k2 < k_, in the forward reaction, the rapid equilibrium kinetics holds. Consequently in this case